Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

All of those approaches will be used by the contractor to reduce the waiting times. This will include overtime and recruitment in Ireland and abroad. As I outlined earlier, we are working with the Minister of State, Deputy English, to allow the recruitment of up to 100 non-EU testers. Some 44 additional testers are expected before the end of this year.

To directly answer the Deputy's question regarding motorists, I strongly urge vehicle owners to allow plenty of time to book their tests. The regulations allow a car to be tested up to 90 days before the due date without affecting the expiry date of the certificate issued. Appointment slots are released continuously across all test centres with many also becoming available through cancellations or rescheduling of appointments. Therefore, when motorists are unable to secure an NCT test date before their certificate is due to expire, they should contact the NCT customer service directly and ask to be added to the priority waiting list. The majority of those on the priority list will be provided with an appointment within 30 days.

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